Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Planted Tank Forum forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically retrieve titles from external links

Topic Review (Newest First)

02-13-2013 07:06 PM

laqu

and i can just use a cut up yoga mat?

02-13-2013 07:00 PM

lochaber

Yeah, I think the words get a little confusing and are interchanged for each other. Typically, you want the mat to prevent stress points/compensate for irregularities on the surface.

You also want a level surface, but the mat won't do much for that. using a piece of plywood with shims is probably the best/easiest solution for a countertop or some other fixed object that you can't directly level/shim.

02-12-2013 09:45 PM

Green_Flash

I am going to say you probably want more than edge support ( like an acrylic tank). solid top would be fine.

I was under the impression that it is a good preventative measure, catastrophic failure or cost of a mat? Yeah, I am going with a mat.

02-12-2013 07:34 PM

jdcook72

When people say they put a mat under the tank to account for the base not being perfectly level, do they really mean flat? The two are different and I just wanted to be sure. I’m planning to set up a tank on a countertop that should be level but may not be exactly. I was going to use a mat to account for irregularities but if being level is the true issue, I would also have to use a sheet of something like plywood that I could shim as necessary.
Also, does a rimless tank need full support on the bottom or can it just be edge supported like on a rimmed tank? I was going make a small stand for a 12 gallon long and was wondering if it needed a “top”.

Thanks

03-10-2012 07:31 PM

talontsiawd

I put a mat under my tank, rimless or not (I have only had one rimless tank). I just think is a good idea, especially with a rimless tank. As much as starting over is a pain, it will be less painful than having to deal with a leak later on.

I think Hollywood has tricked many of us when it comes to earthquakes.. If you aren't at the center, you basically get a bunch of rocking. A tank in decent condition can take some uneven pressure like that for short durations no problem. Now the issue is when a tank isn't level and is subjected to continued stress over the course of months and years. That's when you get failures.

A bunch of rocking? Shook me right off my bed when we had one hit here a good 10 years ago, and i was nowhere near the center. Also collapsed some stuff around the sound. When a quake hits it's like dropping a pebble in a lake, big ripple effect.
Edit: Forgot you all arent from this area. The sound = puget sound.

Has anyone tried a cork sheet? It is pretty much water proof, a little spongy and thin.

We are using these various mats are a gasket material so almost all traditional gasket materials will work.

Currently, I'm using a yoga mat, the black foam used under floating laminate flooring, and a pc of top end hypo-alergenic carpet pad under glass & acrylic tanks.

Shock absorption has some value, but the leveling effect IMHO is much more important. When I do a 50% W/C I hear the load being taken off the stand by the creaking of the plywood top my 40 gl sits on. Being an Acrylic it will be more forgiving flex then the joints on a glass tank will be.

03-09-2012 04:48 PM

prototyp3

I think Hollywood has tricked many of us when it comes to earthquakes.. If you aren't at the center, you basically get a bunch of rocking. A tank in decent condition can take some uneven pressure like that for short durations no problem. Now the issue is when a tank isn't level and is subjected to continued stress over the course of months and years. That's when you get failures.

The most important thing that saved the tanks from breaking was the fact that the fact that the tanks were properly installed so as not to crash to the floor in case of an earthquake. The biggest concern one should have about possible earthquakes is that the typical aquarium on a typical stand is a system with a high center of gravity. Such setup, unless properly secured, will tip over even at significantly smaller earthquake than the one that hit Japan. In other words the whole thing will just tip over and crash to the floor. No mat will ever make any difference in such situation.

Of course, there's no way to absolutely prevent this from happening in a sufficiently strong earthquake. However, once the reasonable measures have been taken to ensure the vertical stability of the tank/stand combination, one can start thinking about mats. How important the mat itself is in such situation will depend on may factors.

I'd say that the main purpose of the mat is the prevention/reduction of continuous everyday static stresses on tank structure from surface imperfections, not protection against earthquakes.

Agreed. As said above, "Now do the mats relieve stress from the tank, of course it does. It also serves as a buffer if you will between the vibrating equipment like filters and such from transferring to the tank. It's like a sound dampening mat. It absorbs sound, vibrations from getting to the tank and relieves pressure points as well".

Also the stand on which it sits upon makes a world of difference. One doesn't need an earthquake or vibrations to bring a tank crashing down that's sitting on a crappy stand.

03-09-2012 02:41 PM

Scyry

Has anyone tried a cork sheet? It is pretty much water proof, a little spongy and thin.

From what I was told Mr. Amano uses mats under his tanks. That is what saved his tanks from the earthquake that hit Japan. I was told the entire building shook but no tanks broke let alone cracked. What saved the tanks from cracking and breaking, the mats. Now there was a lot of water that spilled from the tanks but the tanks themselves were alright.

The most important thing that saved the tanks from breaking was the fact that the tanks were properly installed so as not to crash to the floor in case of an earthquake. The biggest concern one should have about possible earthquakes is that the typical aquarium on a typical stand is a system with a high center of gravity. Such setup, unless properly secured, will tip over even at significantly smaller earthquake than the one that hit Japan. In other words the whole thing will just tip over and crash to the floor. No mat will ever make any difference in such situation.

Of course, there's no way to absolutely prevent this from happening in a sufficiently strong earthquake. However, once the reasonable measures have been taken to ensure the vertical stability of the tank/stand combination, one can start thinking about mats. How important the mat itself is in such situation will depend on many factors.

I'd say that the main purpose of the mat is the prevention/reduction of continuous everyday static stresses on tank structure from surface imperfections, not protection against earthquakes.

03-09-2012 08:46 AM

dantra

Easy there sparky, I'm just the messenger. According to what I was told the building shook, swayed, moved when it should have been stationary. Secondly, I was also told that Mr. Amano uses some sort of cork board but it's not exactly cork it is made of a wood found in Japan that absorbed the shock preventing the tanks from cracking, similar to the mats but firmer and thicker.

Now do the mats relieve stress from the tank, of course it does. It also serves as a buffer if you will between the vibrating equipment like filters and such from transferring to the tank. It's like a sound dampening mat. It absorbs sound, vibrations from getting to the tank and relieves pressure points as well.

Have you ever worked with Dynomat or other sound dampening systems before? If you have same principle.

Dan

03-09-2012 04:14 AM

jkan0228

Fantastic explanation. Thanks so much. Looks like foam is very good stuff.

03-09-2012 03:50 AM

samamorgan

Oh wasnt meaning to come on strong, sorry if it seemed that way. That's the problem with non verbal communication, too much is lost. It prevents the glass from cracking because it evenly distributes the downward pressure of the aquarium and it's contents onto the stand, instead of having pressure points. Imagine those matress commercials that show pressure points on the back, it's quite a bit like that. Now when you have localized pressure points plus harmonic motion like an earthquake or even a person walking by without a care (fairly unlikely), the glass can break. That little bit of foam distributes the shock of harmonic energy throughout the bottom of the tank, instead of to specific pressure points creaded by surface imperfections in both the aquarium glass and the stand top.

I mentioned the walking thing because it's the same principle, though walking is much larger scale because there are quite a number of shock absorbtion systems built into our body, incluting the arch of your foot, bent knees, discs in your back, your glutes, calf muscles, to name a few. But the brain and optic nerve are quite a lot more sensitive than some aquarium glass This came to mind because i remember a guy who had several vertebra in his back fused and started having problems with headaches, and noticed pronounced vibration in his vision when he stepped. That would suck!

This thread has more than 15 replies.
Click here to review the whole thread.